An end-of-term party for public school students went badly awry when gate-crashing, drug-taking and violence left a £2 million home trashed and three teenagers arrested in the street.

Students
from some of North London’s most expensive and prestigious schools rented a
house in Frognal, Hampstead for one night at a cost of £750. They paid up front
in cash, and said they wanted to host a small gathering for up to 30 people.

The
owner of the house said she returned the following day to find her house
ruined, as well as a large number of canisters of the “laughing gas” drug and a
small plastic bag filled with white powder.

Neighbours
spoke of how the scenes resembled the 2011 London riots, as police tried to
shut down the party last month at around 1.30am. The school pupils hurled
verbal abuse at officers and three were bundled into vans on suspicion of
public order offences.

The
owner, who did not want to be named, said she was forced to call in builders to
repair the damage, which she estimated to have cost as much as £15,000.

She
said: “I am disgusted at what has happened. These rich kids destroyed
bathrooms, sofas, a Jacuzzi. My beautiful home was destroyed.

"I
really didn't expect any of this, they said it would just be a small sleepover.

"They
were putting paint and petrol everywhere. They smashed an expensive granite
sink, ripped up mahogany floorboards and they were flinging my crystal
decanters around the place.”

Chris
Fallows, 49, a writer who lives in the area, said: “There were about 40 or 50
kids, all well-dressed, and they were yelling right in the cops’ faces.

“A
lot of the kids had their cell phones out and were thrusting them in the faces
of the policemen, almost daring them to do something. It was as though they
thought they were taking part in some kind of Arab Spring.”

Another
resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “It felt like the London riots
were starting again outside my house. I thought, 'this is about to go off’.

“Two
or three were singled out and flung to the ground and then flung into a van.
Nothing like this ever happens in this neighbourhood.”

The
house owner said the party-goers had left £480 in cash on a table, apparently to
cover repairs. She has so far had little luck chasing them down to recover the
rest of the costs. The event was booked under a false name, although two boys
from £9,000-a-term Mill Hill School have now been revealed as the organisers.

“I
tried to contact the family of one of the boys but his mother left a voicemail
on my phone telling me not to contact her child and instead to speak with his
father,” she said. “I have tried to ask the boys for help in repairing the
house but so far I’ve been practically ignored.”

The
owner said the police had told her it was a civil matter, and there was nothing
they could do to help beyond dealing with the alleged public order offences.

She
said: “I want to warn people. When you’re renting, even through an agency, you
have to really get all the details of the people when you take them on. This
could happen to anyone.”

The
case against a 17-year-old youth charged with a public order offence in
connection with disorder in the street was dropped last week. A 17-year-old
youth and a 16-year-old have been bailed to return to police at a later date.